exam 2

High-Quality Day Care: NAEYC standards

* Breastfeeding is encouraged
* Babies are put to sleep on their back
* Adult to infant ratio is 1:4
* Health standards
* Engage infants in face-to-face interactions

Growth Patterns

* Children slim down as lower body lengthens
* Age 2 through 6, healthy children add:
* Almost 3 inches in height
* About 4 1/2 pounds in weight

As family income _______,__ both malnutrition and obesity ________.

* decrease…. increase
* Obesity is a sign of poor nutrition
* Parents may underestimate overweight child’s weight
* Some improvements have occurred in diets and day-care activities

nutrition in developed nations

* Most children consume more than enough calories
* Sugar consumption is often encouraged by customs
* About 3-8% of children are allergic to a specific food

Brain development

* Primary reason for faster thinking is myelination
* Myelin = fatty coating on the axons
* Speeds signals between neurons
* Makes 5-year-olds much quicker than 3-year-olds

Corpus callosum

* Long, thick band of nerve fibers
* Connects the left and right hemispheres
* Allows communication between them

Lateralization

* Specialization in certain functions by each side of the brain
* One side dominant for each activity

\n Left hemisphere

Verbal competence

Right hemisphere

Nonverbal areas

Maturation of prefrontal cortex

* Improvements in:
* Sleep
* Emotions
* Temper tantrums

Immaturity of the prefrontal cortex

* Still show some impulsive behavior
* Perservation
* Sticking to one action for a long period of time

Gross Motor Skills

* Motor skills advance due to:
* Brain maturation
* Motivation
* Guided practice
* Influenced by culture & urbanization

Fine Motor Skills

* Influenced by practice and maturation
* On average, mature 6 months earlier in females
* All forms of artistic expression increases in early childhood
* Correlated with later creative drawing
* Due to adult encouragement, child practice, and \n developing technical skill

Age-related dangers

* Falls
* Motor-vehicle deaths
* Poison
* Fire
* Drowning

Injury control (harm reduction)

* Safety surfaces
* Car seats
* Bike helmets
* Safety containers for medications
* Pool monitoring

Piaget: Preoperational intelligence (2-6 years)

* Includes imagination and language
* Internal images of experience… Children \n label with words
* Logical, operational thinking is not yet possible
* Symbolic thought = major accomplishment
* Helps explain animism

animism

Belief that natural objects and phenomena are alive

* Lifelike qualities
* Piaget may have overestimated use of animism

Conservation

* Water in different size glasses
* Principle that the amount of a substance remains the same (i.e., is conserved) when its appearance changes
* Preschoolers cannot do this
* Why is this challenging?
* Centration and Irreversibility

Limitations of Piaget’s research

* Piagetian conservation tasks require words
* When tasks are modified, younger children may perform better
* Piaget underestimated cognition during early childhood

Vygotsky: Social Learning

* Cognitive development is embedded in the social context
* Children are curious, observant, always asking questions

Mentors

* Present challenges –
* Zone of Proximal Development
* Scaffolding
* Offer assistance (without taking over)
* Add crucial information
* Encourage motivation

Theory of Mind

* Involves a person's theory of what other people might be thinking
* Emergent ability
* Become aware that someone else might have false beliefs
* Sally & Anne Dolls with the block

fast- mapping

Learning a word after one exposure

grammar Overregularization

Applying rules of grammar when they should not

Pragmatics (grammar)

* Adjusting language according to audience and context
* See pragmatics in pretend play

Effective Strategies and Experiences that aid Reading

* Code-focused teaching
* Book-reading
* Parent education
* Language enhancement
* Preschool programs

Homes & school (education)

Teacher–child interaction relates to learning

Child-centered or developmental programs

* Stress each child’s development and growth
* Allow children to follow their own interests
* Influenced by Piaget and Vygotsky

Teacher-directed programs

* Goal: Make child “ready to learn” for elementary school
* Stress academic subjects
* Taught by a teacher to an entire class

best approach?

Child-centered is encouraged by developmentalism

Intervention programs: Head Start

* Originated in 1960s
* Belief in serving the “whole child”
* Children show immediate IQ gains; increases do not last
* Benefits strongest for children:
* In Poverty
* In rural areas
* With disabilities

Developmentally Appropriate \n Educational Practice

* Psychologist David Elkind
* Society tends to push young children too much
* Believed that children require developmentally appropriate educational practice
* Education is based on:


1. Typical development of a child
2. Unique characteristics of a child


1. Learning should be encouraged, not pushed

Erikson’s Initiative versus Guilt Stage

Initiative:

* Eager to try new tasks & join peer activities
* Try out new skills through play
* Discover what they can do with adult support

Guilt

* Overly strict conscience (superego)… too much guilt
* Excessive punishment, criticism or threats from \n adults
* Less effort to play and master new tasks

self-concept

* Person's understanding of who he or she is Involves:
* Self-esteem
* Physical appearance
* Personality and other personal traits
* Connected to parental confirmation

protective optimism

* Young children are not realistic
* Confidence in self helps young children to persist

intrinsic motivations

* Drive to pursue a goal comes from inside a person
* Seen when children invent imaginary friends

extrinsic motivation

The drive to pursue a goal comes from the need to have achievements rewarded from outside

playmates

* People of about the same age and social status
* Are preferred play partners over parents

Developmentalists fear that play is challenged by:

* Push towards mastery of academic skills
* Rise of electronic media
* More controlling adults

solitary play

A child plays alone, unaware of any other children playing nearby

associative play

Children interact, observing each other and sharing material, but their play is not yet mutual and reciprocal

onlooker play

\n A child watches other children play

parallel play

Children play with similar toys in similar ways, but not together

cooperative play

Children play together, creating and elaborating a joint activity or taking turns

active play

Rough-and-tumble play

Sociodramatic play

rough and tumble play

* Mimics aggression with no intention to harm
* Expressions and gestures signify “pretending”
* Common among males
* Advances social understanding, but increases likelihood of injury

Sociodramatic play

enables children to:

* Explore/rehearse social rules
* Learn to explain ideas to playmates
* Practice emotional regulation
* Develop self-concept

Playful interactions with other children increase:

* Empathy development
* Understanding of feeling/concerns of others
* Empathy → Prosocial behavior
* Antipathy →Antisocial behavior

Prosocial and antisocial behavior are innate and universal

Antisocial behavior generally diminishes

Four general aggression types

* Instrumental aggression
* Reactive aggression
* Relational aggression
* Bullying aggression

Caregiving styles: Dimensions (Baumrind)

* Expressions of warmth
* Strategies for discipline
* Communication
* Expectations for maturity

Baumrind’s Styles of Caregiving- Authoritative

* High acceptance & involvement, adaptive control, autonomy-granting
* Warm, attentive, sensitive to child’s needs
* Most successful approach because parents:


1. Model caring concern and self-controlled behavior
2. Promote compliance fairly and reasonably
3. Convey to children that they are competent
4. Foster self-esteem and maturity

Baumrind’s Styles of Caregiving- Authoritarian

* Low acceptance, involvement, and autonomy granting
* Controlling: Yell, threaten, criticize
* Appear cold and rejecting

Baumrind’s Styles of Caregiving - permissive

* Warm and accepting, but uninvolved
* Lax and require little of their children
* Let children make decisions before they are ready

Baumrind’s Styles of Caregiving- Neglectful/Uninvolved

* Little/no interest in their children
* Indifferent about autonomy
* Emotionally detached
* Depressed or overwhelmed by life stress

Long-Term Effects- Authoritarian parents

* Become obedient and quiet, not especially happy
* Blame themselves when things do not go well
* Rebel and leave home

Long-Term Effects - Permissive parents

* Lack self-control and emotion regulation
* Immature and lack friendships
* Continue to live at home, still dependent

Long-Term Effects - Authoritative \n parents

* Successful, articulate, happy with themselves
* Well-liked
* Well-adjusted

Corporal punishment

Punishment that physically hurts the body

* Increases obedience temporarily
* Also increases potential later bullying and aggression, \n delinquency, and abusive behavior
* In some cultures it is illegal, in others it is the norm

Psychological control

* Involves threatening to withdraw love and support
* Relies on child's feelings of guilt and gratitude to \n parents

Time-out

* Child is separated from people/activities for a specified time
* For some children, time out is effective
* Sometimes it produces anger without changing child’s behavior
* Induction often occurs

Methods of discipline vary in \n consequences and effectiveness, \n depending on:

* Temperament
* Culture
* Adult–child relationship

Sex and gender differences

* Sex differences: Differences in male/female biology
* Differences in organs, hormones, and body type
* Gender differences: Differences male/female roles \n and behaviors

awareness of gender

* Age 2, children apply gender labels
* Age 4, children convinced that certain toys and roles \n are “best suited” for one sex or the other
* Ages 3-6, in the US sexual stereotypes are obvious

biological approach

* Gender-related hormones (androgens)
* Exhibit gender differences for survival of species

social learning approach

* Learn about gender by observing others
* Rewards → Conforming to gendered behaviors

cognitive approach

* Gender schemas
* Gender constancy

Ideas for Reducing Gender Stereotyping In Young Children

1. Delay exposure to gender stereotyped messages
2. Limit gender roles in own behavior
3. Provide nontraditional alternatives
4. Ensure that children spend time in mixed-gender
activities
5. Point out exceptions to gender stereotypes

Middle Childhood

* Ages 6 to 11
* Fatal diseases and accidents are rare
* Minor illnesses are less common than a few decades ago
* Healthiest years of the life span

growth is

slow and steady

* Teeth
* Baby teeth are lost
* Permanent teeth come in
* Muscles become stronger
* Includes hearts and lungs
* Children run faster and exercise longer

Obesity in 6- to 11-year-olds

* Eat too much, exercise too little →overweight/obese
* less than 42 million overweight children around the world
* Correlates with asthma, high blood pressure, and elevated cholesterol

Aptitude

Potential to master a specific skill or to learn a certain body of knowledge

IQ test

Test designed to measure intellectual aptitude, or ability to learn in school

Flynn effect

Rise in average IQ scores that has occurred over the decades in many nations

* closing intelligence gap between races

Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences

* Linguistic
* Logico-mathematical
* Musical
* Spatial
* Bodily-kinesthetic
* Naturalist
* Interpersonal
* Intrapersonal

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

* Great difficulty concentrating for periods of time
* Inattentiveness
* Impulsiveness
* Overactivity
* Interferes with home and school functioning
* Increases in ADHD diagnosis are concerning:
* Misdiagnosis
* Drug abuse
* Normal behavior is considered pathological

ADHD treatment

* Training for family and child
* Behavior therapy
* Special education for children
* Mainstreaming
* Medication/Drug treatment

dyslexia

* Unusual difficulty with reading
* Possibly results from some neurological underdevelopment

Dyscalculia

* Unusual difficulty with math
* May originate from a distinct part of the brain

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

* Less likely to understand others’ emotions
* Less likely to talk/play with other children
* Delayed at developing theory of mind
* Showing signs in infancy

Children with Severe ASD

* May not talk
* Rarely smile
* Can play for hours with one object
* May be talented in a certain area

gifted children

* Divergent thinker
* have Special teachers
* Tracking
* Putting gifted children together in the same learning environment

Piaget: Concrete operational thought

Ability to reason logically about direct experiences

* Classification (most children do this by age 8)
* Organization into groups or categories based on a shared characteristic
* Seriation
* Knowledge that things can be arranged in logical \n series

Information-processing theory

Compares human thinking processes to computer \n analysis of data

Like computers, people sense and perceive large amounts of information:

* Seek relevant information (as a search engine does)
* Analyze (as software programs do)
* Express conclusions so another person can understand (as a networked computer or a printout might do)

Information Processing and Brain Growth

* Children learn step by step
* Gradually advancing as neurological domain connections spread
* Hubs develop where massive numbers of axons meet:
* Reading and related skills
* Social skills
* Automatization

Information Processing

* Factors influencing knowledge base
* Experience
* Current opportunity
* Personal motivation
* Control processes
* Emotional regulation
* Selective attention

language

Understanding metaphors

* School-age children comprehend and enjoy:
* Puns
* Unexpected answers to normal questions
* Metaphors
* New cognitive flexibility and social awareness → Funny

Pragmatics

* Ability to use words/devices to communicate in various contexts
* Allow children to change formal/informal codes to fit audience
* Can switch from one manner of speaking to another

code switching

bilingual children

* Sentence in one language contains “guest” words from other
* Causes for Code Switching


1. Child may lack vocabulary of one language
2. Parents are likely to do so
3. Expression of cultural identity
4. Code switching may facilitate bilingual development

Determining Educational Practice

Overview

* Central government sets public education in most nations
* In US, local jurisdictions provide most funds/guidelines \n

Types

* Public schools
* Charter schools
* Private schools
* Vouchers
* Home schooling

Schooling in the US

Most national tests indicate increase in U.S. children’s academic \n performance

* Far from the top in an international context
* In 2014, U.S. public schools include “majority minority”
* Schools more segregated than 40 years earlier
* Children not always treated equally
* Disparities linked to race and income

Grit

Persistence and effort

* Long term: Grit →Achievement
* Also important to have at least one adult who encourages accomplishment

Self-concept

More complex and logical

due to increase in:

* Cognitive development and social awareness
* Social comparison
* Effortful control

Erikson: Industry vs. Inferiority Stage

* From ages 6 to 12
* Focus on efforts to attain competence in meeting challenges
* Success in this stage
* Feelings of mastery and proficiency
* Growing sense of competence
* Difficulties in this stage
* Feelings of failure and inadequacy

Family function

The way a family works together to meet the needs of its members

Families help children

* Provide basic material necessities
* Encourage learning
* Help them develop self-respect
* Nurture friendships
* Foster harmony and stability

bullying

1. Physical
– Hitting, punching, or kicking
2. Verbal
– Teasing, taunting, or name-calling
3. Relational
– Destroying peer acceptance and friendship
4. Cyber
– Using electronic means to harm another

suffering from bullying

Physical bullying is typically targeted by of anti-bullying laws/policies

* Easier to spot than relational bullying
* Being rejected from a group, especially with gossip and lies, may be: \n • More devastating to the victim \n • Harder to stop
* May be easier for the boy to overcome victimization than for the girl

causes of bullying

* Genetic predisposition or brain abnormality
* Parenting/caregiving environment
* Peers

Consequences for bullies and victims

* Impaired social understanding
* Lower school achievement
* Relationship difficulties
* May have psychological disorders

Successful efforts to eliminate bullying

* The whole school must be involved, not just identified \\n bullies


* Intervention is more effective in the earlier grades
* Evaluation of results is critical